The Hamiltons of Ballydown (20 page)

Just before six o’clock, Sam was seated by the stove with his newspaper looking as if he had polished his large, squarish face. His clean shirt gleaming from Hannah’s careful ironing. As his sisters came downstairs one after the other, he eyed them, looked them up and down and nodded his vigorous approval. A little later, Rose appeared in her wine coloured silk, her hair expertly piled up by Sarah, who’d never let Betty do her hair, but watched most carefully each time she’d dressed Hannah’s long, fair tresses. When Sam caught sight of her, his eyes filled with such tenderness he could think of nothing whatever to say.

Watching him from the kitchen table, where she was adding a handful of newly arrived pictures to her album, Sarah suddenly thought of Jamie. If she had to lose a brother, she could much better spare Jamie. Sam was far too dear to her.

John appeared last, freshly shaved and very tidy and stood with his back to the stove where he could admire the rest of his family. The clock now pointed to six.

‘It’s not like Hugh to be a moment late,’ he commented, as he cocked his ear for the sound of the brougham.

At that very moment, Elizabeth appeared in the doorway wearing an elegant grey silk dress with a flower pinned to her shoulder.

‘Elizabeth, come in, come in,’ Rose cried. ‘Welcome home.’

She crossed the room and hugged her, followed by Hannah and John.

Sarah prepared to follow after, but stopped dead as she stood up. Behind Elizabeth appeared a tall, handsome man, waiting courteously till she moved further into the room.

His face was bronzed and he held a walking stick in his right hand. It was only as Elizabeth moved away to bend down and kiss Sam that the unfamiliar figure smiled warmly at her and she found her tongue.

‘Hello, Hugh,’ she said shyly. ‘Welcome back. Did it hurt?’ she added after a tiny pause.

‘My dear Rose, I think your daughter is trying to embarrass you again,’ he declared, as he turned to greet her, ‘just as she did the very first time we met?’

‘How so, Hugh?’ she said, as he kissed her cheek.

‘She’s just asked me if it hurt.’

She laughed in her turn, remembering how very awkward she’d felt that first evening when Sarah had thrown out her questions in her usual direct way.

‘And did it?’ she asked, more soberly, glancing at Sarah whose eyes were shining with delight.

‘Yes, it did. It still does,’ he said cheerfully. ‘But if I’m a good boy and walk every day, it will stop. Then maybe Sam and I can start kicking a football,’ he said, clasping Sam’s hand and shaking it vigorously.

The meal was a great success. Everyone was hungry and Rose was amused as the platters of cold meat, so prettily arranged by Hannah, were soon reduced to fragments of parsley and sprigs of mint. Extra bowls of potato salad, chopped beetroot and apple in raspberry jelly and marinaded mushrooms had to be fetched from the larder.

By the time they reached dessert and John fetched glasses to sample the bottle of Elizabeth’s pear wine she’d brought for them, everyone was in the best of spirits. Even the anxieties and troubles of the last two months past were recounted with a certain humour.

‘My dears, when he started getting these dreadful pains in the chest I thought all was lost,’ said Elizabeth gazing round the table. ‘They were dreadful, weren’t they Hugh?’

‘Yes, I’ll admit to that,’ said Hugh beaming.

‘They thought his heart was about to fail after the strain of surgery,’ she went on. ‘One of his nurses more or less told me I ought to see about mourning. She was quite upset when I told her Quakers don’t wear mourning. She seemed more upset over my failure to buy a black dress than about her patient
expiring,’ she said, shaking her head helplessly.

‘So what happened then, Elizabeth dear,’ Rose asked, reassured by Hugh’s lively presence and the fact she had never seen him in such good spirits before.

‘Well, fortunately the surgeon who had done the work on his leg observed that the pain went away when Hugh bent over. Providing he walked crabwise, there was no pain at all,’ she said, laughing wryly.

‘So, it wasn’t the heart?’ said John thankfully.

‘No, it was the muscles in his shoulders and upper back,’ she continued reassuringly. ‘They’d adapted to the way Hugh walked and they complained when he stood up straight. What I didn’t know is that if the muscles in the back are upset the pain frequently comes out round the front. Quite a useful thing to know, isn’t it?’

‘So, how did they get you straightened out,’ Sarah demanded, as she moved her empty plate and leant on her elbows to study him carefully.

‘Well, first they rubbed me with something that smelt like axle oil, then they took it in turns chopping me in slices with the sides of their hands. After a few days chopping, they found an ancient instrument of torture and tied me to that. Bit like being on the rack, I imagine,’ he said laughing. ‘I was waiting for the thumb screws, but they didn’t have any in stock. So they made me do more exercises instead.’

‘Oh, poor Hugh,’ said Hannah, smiling at him sympathetically.

‘No, Hannah dear. Rich Hugh. All that care, all those people doing their best for me. And your good father here carrying all my problems on
his
shoulders for five weeks, when I’d only asked him for two. He and I have a bit of settling up to do, next week,’ he said cheerfully.

‘Ach, not at all, man,’ said John dismissively. ‘Amn’t I only too glad to be of use?’

‘Rather more than that, John, if I hear rightly. Has he told you all about the singing doffer crisis?’ he asked, looking round the table.

‘Was there a stoppage?’ asked Sarah, promptly.

‘There would have been if it hadn’t been for your father,’ he said, nodding to her. ‘I had a report from the manager waiting for me when I got back,’ he went on, smiling across at John. ‘Apparently one of the doffers was told off for singing. She goes on singing and gets a warning she’s to be laid off. Whereupon all the other doffers start singing. Unfortunately, they’re not so competent, they couldn’t both sing and doff so there’s a sudden short fall in the spindles going over to Lenaderg for weaving. So they send for the boss. And the boss is John, poor man. And away he goes and in a twinkling he’s got it sorted out.’

‘How did you do that, Da?’ Sarah asked, as John looked sheepish.

‘He’ll not tell you, Sarah, so I will, said Hugh cheerfully. ‘First he goes and talks to the Manager
whose getting all the complaints from Lenaderg and he asks why the girl was told off in the first place. Because you can’t sing and work, says he. So your Da asks to see the production schedule and finds out that this wee singing lassie is one of the best workers. Production only dropped when she was warned and the
other
lassies started singing. The Manager takes the point well enough, but now he wants to know what he’s supposed to do when the minute he appears all the doffers start singing at him.’

Everyone laughed as Hugh mimicked the face of the unfortunate Manager who couldn’t make himself heard over machinery and singing.

John was now blushing slightly.

‘So what did John do, Hugh?’ Rose asked.

‘Well, I can only tell you what I’ve been told,’ he replied, grinning. ‘It seems this man of yours went into Banbridge and bought a songbook and came back and gave it to the wee singer. He said there’d be no more objections to her singing, but maybe she’d have a word with her friends who didn’t sing quite as nicely as she did.’

‘And did they stop their singin’ at the Manager?’ asked Sam.

‘They did indeed and production is back to normal. I doubt if we’ve ever had a labour dispute solved for the price of a songbook. I’ll have to see he actually claimed the cost of it from the petty cash. I
wouldn’t put it past him not to bother,’ said Hugh, with a shake of his head.

The glasses were filled and Elizabeth’s pear wine raised. Hannah was toasted for her journey and her engagement, Sam for a speedy return to the use of both of his legs. Then a toast was drunk to old friends and new. The wine was delicious and somewhat more powerful than anyone quite expected.

‘Would you like to see the pictures we brought back from our holiday, Hugh?’ Sarah asked, as Hannah helped Rose to carry the small remains of the feast back to the dairy and Elizabeth settled herself with John and Sam to hear about his accident.

‘Did you take these, Sarah?’ Hugh asked soberly, as she turned the first two pages.

‘Yes, I did. Teddy showed me how on his big plate camera and then he gave me one of his Kodaks.’

‘These are very, very good,’ he said slowly. ‘No, no. Stop. You’re going too fast. I want to look at each one,’ he protested. ‘You’ve just caught the right moment,’ he went on, ‘that old gardener picking the peach. And isn’t that Hannah with someone reflected in the glass.’

‘Yes, that’s Teddy. You’ll see more of him later,’ she said, blushing with pleasure at the concentration with which he studied each page.

‘Did you keep that diary you were planning when you went?’

‘Yes, but I gave it up when I started to take pictures. The pictures say so much more.’

‘Yes, of course they do,’ he agreed. ‘To you. Even to me, perhaps, but that’s because I know about this place and these people. How would it be if I were a stranger and didn’t know England or the life of a big house? What then? You need words as well, Sarah. Just think how much more the two together would say.’

Sarah paused and looked up from the pictures to regard him directly. She couldn’t help but remember sitting here only last Sunday with Jamie, who could only mutter and grunt, his only comment to ask Hannah who her
boyfriend
was. How very silly he’d been, she thought now. How childish and immature.

‘I did think, Hugh,’ she said soberly, ‘that I might take some pictures in the mills.’

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ he responded promptly. ‘It’s just possible pictures might reveal things I don’t know about,’ he went on thoughtfully. ‘But you
must
write down your own impressions to complement them. You’ve given me an idea, Sarah, but we must wait and talk about it more next week,’ he said, smiling as he stood up. ‘Right now, I must give this seat to Elizabeth. I want her to see what a marvellous job you’ve done.’

‘You won’t be lonely, will you, Sam?’ Rose said, as she put her sewing things in her basket. ‘I’ll be back by twelve to lay the table for Da coming in to his lunch,’ she added, as Sam emerged from his newspaper to watch her. ‘Is there anything I can fetch for you before I go?’

Sam shook his head at the idea of his being lonely, thought for a moment and made up his mind.

‘Would you leave me out some writing things?’ he said slowly. ‘There’s a job here in the paper I might write about. I think they want someone older, but there’s no harm in tryin’.’

‘None at all, Sam,’ she said encouragingly, as she went to the drawer in the dresser. ‘You might write a few lines to Hannah while you’re at it, you’ll have to keep your hand in now,’ she said lightly, as she dropped a kiss on his shiny forehead.

‘Rose, my dear, come in and sit down,’ said Elizabeth warmly as she heard her friend’s step and pulled open the back door. ‘How lovely to have you here again.’

She sat down and ran her eyes round the bright, plant-filled conservatory that was Elizabeth’s pride and joy. Only when she saw a row of flourishing pelargoniums, tiny cuttings when she’d last come, did she recall the February morning she’d packed her basket but couldn’t get further than the chair by the stove.

‘It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it?’ said Elizabeth, seeing the look that crossed her face as she settled herself in the chair opposite.

‘And it’s not over yet,’ Rose said, laughing ruefully. ‘Goodness knows what’s in store for us next,’ she went on, unrolling her sewing from its cover. ‘But I can’t complain at what life throws at me, can I? You know better than anyone I’ve been given back life itself.’

‘You had a close call, Rose,’ her friend replied. ‘Do you think it’s changed you?’

‘Lady Anne asked me that about a month ago and I wasn’t sure what to say then. I’m still not
sure
, but I get closer,’ she began quietly. ‘I must tell you about this business over Jamie. It’s really set me thinking. I hope you’ll tell me if you think we’ve done right.’

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head.

‘I knew something must be badly wrong when you said not to ask about him in your note. We guessed you didn’t want to spoil Hannah’s last evening.’

‘I knew I could depend on you,’ Rose said warmly. ‘Friday evening really did make up for the previous Sunday.’

She fell silent for a little as she collected her thoughts and then told her friend as clearly as she could what had happened over Sunday lunch.

‘And you’ve not had a letter from him?’ Elizabeth asked, the strong lines of her face making her look severe as she listened intently.

‘Only the one John and I wrote that evening with the cheque. He returned it unopened.’

‘That
was
hard on you both,’ she said coolly, her clear grey eyes full of sympathy.

‘Yes, it was
awful
, Elizabeth. My stomach turned over when I saw our address in his handwriting, but maybe that’s where I’ve changed. I
was
hurt. I was even more hurt for John. But then I began to think. We did all we could for Jamie. We loved him and cared for him. He’s reached manhood, which many a poor child never does. If he has to go his own way, then we’ve got to accept it. I’m sad. Of course, I’m sad. But I won’t let it bring the world down round me. There are others who need my love and care. Jamie has walked away. If he comes back, he’ll be made welcome, but if he chooses not to, life must go on without him.’

Elizabeth nodded, reassured that Rose had been able to reach beyond the pain and disappointment.

‘Did John take it hard?’

‘He did at first. But the night after he came back from leaving Hannah in Dublin, he suddenly said to me. “
Jamie’s alive. He has all we gave him. It’s in God’s hands whether he comes back or not. We mustn’t grieve for what is his own choice
.”’

‘I think John is right. I think you
both
are. It
is
very sad. But how much sadder if Jamie had been killed in the yard. Or if Sam hadn’t been so quick on his feet, when that wagon started to roll,’ she said, dropping her work in her lap. ‘You’ve had quite a homecoming, Rose.’

Rose smiled ruefully.

‘If anyone had told me in February that Jamie would have taken himself off in a huff, that Sam would be unemployed, Hannah engaged and in Switzerland, I really couldn’t have believed it,’ she declared. ‘And I certainly wouldn’t have thought I had the strength to cope with it. Perhaps that’s the gift of my illness. I knew I gave thanks for all the good things in my life, but I hadn’t given thanks for life itself.’

Elizabeth nodded slowly and said nothing. She’d had a great deal to give thanks for herself in these last demanding months, but her story would keep. She was more concerned about the burdens Rose had shouldered the moment she arrived home.

‘How do you think Sam is?’ she asked quietly. ‘He was being quite philosophical about it when we
talked to him on Friday, but there was hurt there as well.’

‘He’s fine physically. He couldn’t have had a better doctor, but I can see he’s worried about getting a job. He reads every newspaper he can lay hands on and asks for more. John thinks he shouldn’t even consider going back to Thompson’s, even if they did offer to reemploy him when the leg’s mended.’

‘Yes, I agree with John,’ replied Elizabeth, nodding vigorously. ‘Hugh was absolutely furious when he heard what had happened. He thinks Sam wouldn’t have got his cards if he’d been a member of the lodge. Thompson became Master this year and by a remarkable coincidence most of the lads who work for him join as soon as they’re seventeen,’ she said sharply.

Rose sighed and put down her work.

‘Oh Elizabeth, how stupid of me. I never thought of that. I should have guessed. When Jamie made his disparaging remarks about Catholics, it was Sam who asked him if that was what they taught him at the lodge. I suppose he’d heard that kind of talk at work. Knowing Sam, he’d just set it aside in his own quiet way but it looks as if the accident was an opportunity to get rid of him, doesn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid it does. But you mustn’t worry,’ Elizabeth went on quickly. ‘Hugh said I was to tell you he’s found something that might suit him. A
cousin of mine, one of the Pearsons, has started up a new haulage business. They’re a Quaker family too, so there’d be no nonsense about joining the lodge. There is one problem, however,’ she added. ‘That’s why he asked me to tell you before he spoke to Sam.’

‘What’s that then?’

‘It’s in Portadown, Rose,’ she said steadily. ‘Sam would have to live in digs like Jamie. Do you think he could manage that? He seems so happy at home. And what about you?’ she went on, looking hard at her friend. ‘Jamie, Hannah and Sam, all gone in the course of one summer?’

Rose smiled reassuringly.

‘I told Sam the other day that his Granny Hannah always used to say “
Your children are only lent to you
.” It looks like we’re handing them all back. Except for Sarah. And even she’s growing up fast,’ she added, smiling, as she held up the bodice of the dress she was making for her.

Elizabeth nodded and grinned broadly, her whole face transformed, her grey eyes twinkling.

‘Oh Rose dear, I did have to laugh on Saturday morning. Poor old Hugh,’ she went on, smiling. ‘He looked over my shoulder on Friday night as we walked into your kitchen and he thought, “Oh, a visitor, I wonder who
she
is,” and the next moment Sarah smiled at him and he couldn’t believe his eyes,’ she went on. ‘And all day Saturday he kept saying to
me, “Hasn’t Sarah grown over the summer? Weren’t those pictures she took remarkable?” I think he still hasn’t got over the shock.’

‘Then that makes two of them,’ said Rose laughing happily. ‘Sarah told me
she
wondered who the tall man was. She says she didn’t recognise him till he smiled at her. Can you believe it, Elizabeth, him walking properly again after all these years? John said he looked ten years younger, more like twenty two than thirty two. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh so much as he did on Friday night. I began to think it was your lovely pear wine,’ she said, dropping her work in her lap and studying her friend’s face.

‘It
was
a splendid evening, Rose. I hope Hannah enjoyed it,’ she said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

‘Yes, she did. She said it really made up for the way Jamie spoilt Sunday’s celebration. It’s not like Hannah to be so forthright, but she was really angry at Jamie for forgetting who his grandparents were and how many of his uncles and aunts are Catholic.’

‘Will Hannah be happy, Rose?’

‘With Teddy?’

Elizabeth nodded silently.

‘Yes,’ she said simply. ‘There was something between them from the beginning, but I missed it because Teddy spent so much time teaching Sarah photography. I didn’t realise Hannah was always there in the background encouraging him. Anne
told me she’s the only girl Teddy’s ever looked at. She said when they went to a ball and she asked him the name of the last girl he’d danced with, he could never even remember,’ she added, grinning.

‘So you think we’ll have a wedding next year?’

‘Setting aside illness and accident, I can’t see anything else coming between them. They’re totally committed to each other.’

‘I thought we might make them a quilt …’

Rose glanced up and saw a small, awkward smile on her friend’s face. She looked at her more closely and recalled the unusual radiance about her last Friday evening. This morning too, there was an air of excitement that hadn’t totally vanished as they’d spoken of Jamie and Sam and Hannah.

‘Elizabeth,’ she began firmly, ‘we’ve gone through my entire family and not said a word about you. There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?’

To her absolute amazement, Elizabeth blushed.

‘I don’t know when it will be possible,’ she began awkwardly. ‘I can’t leave Hugh till he’s properly recovered, but I
have
promised to marry someone.’

‘Someone!’ exclaimed Rose. ‘Do I know this extremely fortunate individual?’

‘Yes, you do. In fact, it’s all your doing,’ she replied shyly. ‘It’s Richard Stewart from Dromore. He says he knew he wanted me to be his wife when he looked at me across your bed. He asked me to
think about it before we went to Manchester. After his visit to Sam on Monday he came up here and asked me what I’d decided.’

‘And you said ‘yes’ to Richard Stewart on Monday and didn’t tell me,’ said Rose, with a feeble attempt at outrage.

‘It’s taken me till today to believe it,’ admitted Elizabeth honestly.

‘Then I forgive you,’ said Rose, beaming with delight, as she got up to kiss her friend. ‘I think we’d better start on a quilt for you. You’ll be married long before Hannah, if Hugh and John and I have anything to do with it,’ she said, glancing at the clock.

‘Goodness,’ said Elizabeth, ‘it’s almost twelve. I don’t know where the morning’s gone. I’ve missed you so, Rose dear. Suddenly, there seems so much to catch up on. Can we meet again soon?’

‘As soon as you like. I’ve missed you just as much. And I want to hear a great deal more about Richard Stewart of Dromore. Oh Elizabeth, I’m so pleased. It makes up for so much,’ she said, standing up. ‘What about Tuesday? If you come to me, I can cut out on the parlour table and you can have a look at Sam for yourself. He always loves seeing you.’

‘Yes, let’s make it Tuesday,’ said Elizabeth promptly. ‘I’ll see you before I’m sure, but Tuesday will give us time to talk.’

Rose collected up her sewing and they said a hurried goodbye. She walked briskly down the lime avenue, her eye picking out the first yellow leaves lodged in the longer grass at their feet. At its end, away from the arching canopy of the trees, she stared up at acres of bright blue sky piled high with masses of cloud. She loved this walk from Rathdrum to Ballydown, less than a quarter of a mile, but so varied, each handful of yards revealing a different perspective, green fields, ploughed earth, the sharp outline of the Mournes, so close in the bright light.

After their quiet period in late summer the birds were active again too. Everywhere, there were scuffles and flutterings in the hedgerows and ditches. A whole flock of sparrows rose protesting as she walked towards the bush where they sat. Cheeping furiously, they flew off, wheeled and came back, settling almost exactly where they had been.

‘Hello, Sam. Have you had a walk?’

‘Aye, I’ve been to the gate a couple of times between visitors.’

‘Visitors? So who did you have?’ Rose asked, delighted that he’d had company while she’d been away.

‘Michael MacMurray said he’d like a word with Da. He came to ask when was a good time to catch him. He stayed a while. He says they’ve settled
on Canada. It’s been a bad year for him. He says another like that and he’d not be able to pay the mortgage on the bit of land he owns.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Rose, as she began laying the table. ‘I’ll be very sad to lose such good neighbours, but he’s spoken about Canada more than once recently. What about his potatoes?’

‘They’re all right he says. No blight, but a poor yield. I’ve a feelin’ he can’t pay Da the rent of our field. That’s why he wants to see him.’

‘Oh well,’ said Rose, pulling the kettle forward and preparing to make tea, ‘Da’ll not be hard on him. Sure what’s a few pounds from a neighbour when things are so bad with him.’

She went out into the dairy for cheese and cold meat. It was only as she brought it back to the table she remembered Sam had said ‘visitors’.

‘Who else did you have, Sam?’

‘I had a visit from my Boss, as was.’

‘Thompson?’

‘Aye,’ he replied, nodding at her, as she paused, teapot in hand, a look of amazement on her face.

‘What did he want?’ she asked shortly.

‘He said I could have my job back, provided I joined the lodge.’

‘And what did you say?’ Rose asked, wide-eyed.

‘I said that unfortunately I had something else in mind.’

‘And have you?’

‘No. But I intend to see that I have, as soon as the plaster’s off,’ he replied, with a cool determination she’d never heard before.